I know the chatter on Bugtraq is usually reserved for UNIX and NT issues, however I found a bug in the Mac OS 9 idle locking function that's built-in to the operating system. It's possible to set up the Finder so that, if the current user goes idle, the screen will be locked. A simple dialog box is displayed stating that the system has been idle for too long and a password must be entered. You have two options. Click OK and enter the password to return to your session or click OK and click Log Out. It's possible to seize control of Mac OS under certain conditions by clicking Log Out. Some applications have the "feature" of asking you if you're sure that you want to quit. For example, if connected to a UNIX host using NiftyTelnetSSH, it will ask you if you're sure you want to disconnect when the application quits. Other applications with unsaved data will ask if you want to save changes. Most of these dialog boxes have OK and Cancel or Yes, No and Cancel for options. Hitting Cancel at any of these "are you use" dialog boxes will stop the logout process and return you to the current session. Now, being primarily a UNIX user that also uses Mac OS for graphics and Web page design, I realize that relying on Mac OS for physical security is about as silly as relying on the Windows 95 password "protected" screensaver for security. I just figured that I'd point out this small issue because the Mac OS 9 ads seem to be pushing the added security benefits of upgrading to Mac OS 9 and its voiceprint password protection. /Sean/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Apr 13 2001 - 15:08:44 PDT